Strategies to advance Gender Inequality at Oxfam

Posted: January 4th, 2023

Strategies to advance Gender Inequality at Oxfam

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Strategies to advance Gender Inequality at Oxfam

Introduction

Businesses and the society at large deal with several constraints that require critical and suitable interventions to avert situations that could cause severe effects. A societal problem that deserves urgent attention at Oxfam is gender inequality, which implies that men and women are not similar and a person’s sex has significant influence on a person’s life and experiences (Oxfam International, 2020). The distinctions that exist between males and females originate from the biological characteristics, psychological features and cultural practices and norms that differ considerably. The proposal shows how gender imbalance deny females similar chances to work in several sectors, especially those highly dominated by men, and Oxfam is one of the groups that require significant transformation of its policies to deal with the gender inequality that may have adverse effects on the organization’s performance. The gender imbalance at Oxfam requires adequate intervention because I have experienced a scenario where a company fails to develop proper relationship with its consumers because of the failure to emphasize on gender equality while I worked as a social worker in one of the local organizations. A suitable plan to deal with the problem would be to initiate more working opportunities for female employees after refining the current policy. The organization should provide women the chance to serve as leaders and nurture their capabilities. The sensitization programs should continuously remind female employees that they have similar abilities as men to achieve impressive results. Dealing with the social problem at Oxfam and extending the initiative to the society at large helps to develop a workplace and society where men and women interact without any feeling of superiority or inferiority, and will also provide the chance for everyone to excel in life.

Background Context

Many scholars try to understand the original cause of gender disparity, which is now one of the major social concerns across the globe. Biological distinctions act as a primary cause of gender imbalance because of the natural dissimilarities that exist between individuals based on their anatomic characteristics, which ultimately determines a person’s reproductive features and behaviors (Alfred, 2012). The chromosomal and hormonal differences determine a person’s bodily shape and physical strength, and in many situations men are stronger and heavily built compared to women. The biological differences also put men to be a bit taller, although this does not apply in all situations. The variations create a situation where women tend to live longer than men, although scholars still have varying perceptions on the matter. Women, on the other hand, can effectively fight diseases because they generate more white blood cells that produce antibodies. Alfred (2012) further asserts that the hormones influence to what extend someone exhibits male or female behaviors and appearance. The environment men and women experience as they grow into adults solidifies the gender stereotypes with regard to what the society expects from men or boys and women or girls. The misconceptions and stereotypes many people have about men and women serves as the major cause for the disparity in behavior, career preferences, and output (Alfred, 2012). Since childhood, for example, boys associate themselves with huge toys and particular kind of games and clothing while girls take a path that suits them. The division that starts so early in life escalates into situation where men and women appear as two distinct factions that display different behaviors, personalities and attitudes who ought to pursue different paths.  

Sociological Justification

Oxfam in California is not the only organization experiencing gender imbalance issues considering that this is a social concern that attracts universal attention and requires concerted efforts to come up with the best solutions. The organization experiences a scenario more men work at the various departments and take the positions that give them more pay than their female counterparts (Oxfam International, 2020). Already, the situation is creating much conflict within the stakeholders with some having the perception that the group must take quick measures to deal with the challenge.

An interview with the CEO at Oxfam reveals that the organization faces the challenge of gender imbalance, although the firm already has plans to mitigate the issue. The leader said through an interview on Skype that the number of male workers at the company is considerably higher than the number of female workers. The CEO says that more men occupy the leadership positions at the organizations, which means that they wage gap between men and women at the group is considerably high. I asked the leader whether the gender imbalance causes any adverse effects at the organization, and he responded by saying that customers and workers are already complaining that the firm does not give a true reflection of a diversified company in terms of gender representation. The leader said during the interview that the workers and members of the community are increasingly becoming concerned that whereas the nonprofit firm ought to alleviate the social challenges people experience in life, that does not reflect in the way the company develops its staff because of the gender disparity. The leader said that the not-for-profit organization has substantial plans to deal with the increased concern that may affect the group’s performance if the leaders and relevant stakeholders take suitable measures to address the problem. The leader also said that the organization must refine its structure to effectively compete in today’s environment where more people appreciate a diversified workplace and society.

The statements by the leader give a true reflection of what happens globally where gender imbalance mostly affect women who encounter considerable discrepancies at the workplace. Many sectors across the globe are separated based on the distinctions in gender. The disparity create a situation where women have little work experience, work in areas that do not yield much pay and serve in lower positions. Consequently, the average income for men and women vary considerably by 63% to 81% (Burstein, 2008). Factors such as women’s unwillingness to address issues on wages and sexual exploitation have contributed to the gap in income (Bierema, 2003). Even though some studies put the difference in wage to be considerably low, the United States Department of Labor discovered that on average women workers get about 91 cents of what their male counterparts receive (Burstein, 2008). The disparity women encounter at the place of work and in the society at large, however, takes away so many chances that would allow them to improve their wellbeing.  

It is imperative to come up with quick and effective intervention to the issue of gender disparity to prevent the problem from getting out of hand. So far, gender imbalance does not only cause problems in the employment sector, but in other areas as well. Gender imbalance becomes problematic when the gender and cultural stereotypes manipulate how people view each other. The society has since the historical times viewed women as people who should remain at home and perform the house chores (McCammon et al., 2017). The perception that women are nurturing and caring allow them to secure working opportunities in specific sectors such as teaching and social work while denying them the chance in certain work areas such as the ICT sector and engineering (McCammon et al., 2017). Today, however, the conventional concepts and notions of gender imbalance and stereotypes are being regarded as inappropriate because some already think that men can do the jobs women perform and women can fit well into the positions the society has reserved for men.

Action Plan

Oxfam can overcome the gender imbalance it presently exhibits if it takes considerable steps to deal with the issue. A crucial step would be to engage the primary stakeholders in refining the present policy that offer more employment opportunities to men, and also assigns more male workers highly paying positions. The board must meet and bring together the workers in finding suitable solutions to the current social concern at the organization that could ultimately have adverse effects on the firm’s bottom line. The team should discuss the importance of offering more working opportunities for women in the various sectors, including at the managerial position to create a situation where the society gives a true reflection of gender balance. The group leaders should conduct adequate researches on the benefits of creating a work environment where men and women get equal chances and how this may impact on the society at large and take quick measures to deal with the issue. The group leaders can contribute to gender equality at the organization, which may have considerable impact on the society by initiating programs that empower female workers and inform them of their ability to achieve similar performance as the male employees if they work hard (McCammon et al., 2017). The internal awareness programs should introduce the female workers to some of the prosperous women who impacted and continue to have significant influence on people’s lives. The management should ensure that the awareness program continues over a long period to ensure that all workers are aware of what it takes to achieve gender balance. The initiatives will go a long way into creating a society where both males and females view each other as being the same and not different because of the dissimilar sexes.  The group leaders can also contribute to gender equality at the organization by discouraging the gender pay gap which only continues if the art of secretiveness is supported within a company. Therefore each level should have a pay bracket that defines the salary for that position.

Conclusion

The proposal suggests that Oxfam must create more working opportunities for female employees to deal with the reputational issues it currently experiences. Smurfit Kappa Group is not the only firm battling gender inequality because this is a universal social issue that requires joint effort to realize the desirable results. The disparity at Oxfam creates a national image where more men get jobs in highly paying areas as opposed to women. Other than defeating the stereotypes associated with gender differences Oxfam should develop a suitable plan that entails refining its policies and making it mandatory to give more working opportunities to female workers than it presently stands. The company’s leadership should facilitate an internal program that sensitizes female workers about their capabilities to perform as well as their male counterparts.  

References

Alfred, G. (2012). Sexual dimorphism in human and mammalian biology and pathology. New

            York, NY: Academic Press.

Bierema, L. (2003). The role of gender consciousness in challenging patriarchy.

            International Journal of Lifelong Education, 22(1): 3-12. doi: 10.1080/02601370304825.

Burstein, P. (2008). Equal employment opportunity: Labor market discrimination and public

            policy. Edison, NJ: Aldine Transaction.

McCammon, H., et al. (2017). The Oxford handbook of U.S. women’s social movement

            activism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Oxfam International. (2020) Oxfam International. Retrieved from https://www.oxfam.org/en